From an Unexpected Source
by Abstract1106
Summary: Shepard needs to find a way to get along with Zaeed Massani, so she visits him after Zorya. Who will come out on top? One shot, grew out of another story but ultimately didn't fit. Suggestive but not graphic.


**A/N**_: In writing the new **James Vega: Origins** story, which is growing like a weed and spans James' entire life, this little scene popped into my head. It's not where I'm going with the new story, so I've edited it and dropped it here for your pleasure._

* * *

**_Normandy_ SR-2 Mess Hall, 2185; Post-Zorya Mission**

"That bastard." Shepard tapped her hand restlessly on the mess hall table. "Endangering my team and my mission for revenge. Ready to kill all those civvies for his personal vendetta." She shook her head, mouth tight. "That _bastard_."

Garrus shrugged. "You're going to have to talk to him about it. We still have a mission to do."

"With anyone else, it would be a simple thing, but these mercs and independents operate totally differently than Alliance or even Cerberus." Her tapping reached a frenzied pace before she slapped her hand on the table. "EDI traced Vido so I can mollify his anger by giving him that intel, but I doubt it will be enough to make him trust me again. How can I ease this tension so we can work together for the rest of the mission?" She stared absently at the tabletop.

"Remember that story I told you about the Turian female I was having issues with before I joined C-Sec?" Garrus said, leaning back. "I hear it works the same way for humans as it does for Turians."

"'Blowing off steam'," Shepard said in a flat tone. She shook her head. "To think it comes to this."

Garrus laughed. "Oh, please, Shepard. From what I hear, you're not one to hold back on using your feminine charms to get what you need, especially when a mission is at stake."

"True enough, though it doesn't please me to say so." She sighed. "Fine, fine. I'll go down there and rock his wrinkled socks off. I just hope I don't kill the bastard."

"He's hardly frail and infirm. You never know, you might just enjoy yourself."

"Having fun, Garrus?"

"Hell yes. I get to pimp for Commander Shepard. You can't _buy _fun like this."

"Fuck you, Garrus. Who needs friends like you?" she wondered as she got up and walked out, throwing her hands in the air.

But she smirked as she stepped onto the lift and punched the button for Engineering. _That old fart has no idea what's coming._

* * *

**Starboard Cargo Bay**

Shepard fell sideways onto the deck with a thump. Her hair was plastered to the side of her face in slick strands, her face flushed as she gasped, pulling herself to her feet. Her knees immediately gave out.

"What the fuck." Her head hung limply from her shoulders as she rose to all fours and attempted to stand up again. One shaky hand reached up to grip the rail alongside the wall.

"C'mere." A strong arm whipped out, wrapped around her bare waist and pulled her back onto the thin mat where they'd spent the last few hours. "I'm not done with you yet."

"You are, now," she said as he pulled her onto his sweaty chest. Her arms dropped flaccidly to the mattress.

"You're a helluva broad, Shepard." Zaeed reached over her and grabbed a cigar from the shelf. "You held up pretty well."

"What the _fuck_," she said again, her voice muffled in his chest hair. "I've killed Reapers and not felt like this after. Hell, I've been _dead_ and didn't feel like this after."

He rumbled a laugh as he lit the cigar. "Most women don't last long with me."

"Arrogant bastard." She rose her head to meet his eye. He smiled at her, the expression wrinkling the skin around his scarred prosthesis. His multicolored eyes shone in the dim light, softer than usual.

Her head cocked to the side. "You're pretty handsome when you smile, you know that? You must have really knocked 'em dead when you were younger."

"Shagged the arse off the great Commander Shepard, didn't I? I don't need youth to know my way around a woman."

"You've certainly proven that." She tried again to sit up, but he held her down.

"Trust me, Shepard, you don't want to walk through your ship looking like you've just been plowed for six hours by the bloodthirstiest merc in the galaxy."

"No, I don't, but you didn't seem the cuddling type."

"Maybe I'm getting mellow in my old age."

"Fucking hell, Zaeed, you're _not _old. You may have even taken a few years off the end of my life for yourself." He laughed, the rumble echoing in his chest under her ear.

They lay there for a long time, feeling the engines' thrumming through the floor. The sound of his cigar puffing between his lips soothed her rapid heartbeat, the smell of sizzling tobacco reminding her of her youth… of her father. That thought was just twisted enough to make her flex against his pelvis, eliciting a chuckle from him.

"What daft notion made you come down here anyway, Shepard?" he asked.

"I can't have the kind of tension on my ship that happened after Zorya. Something had to give."

"You fucked me to relieve tension in the team?" His head popped up to look down at her again, a crooked smile on his face. "I feel so used."

"Can you think of a better reason? Not like we're going to ride off into the sunset together."

"True. Glad to hear you say it. Some bitches get the craziest notions in their heads about me. Thinkin' they can save me or something."

"There's no saving you, Zaeed. We have that in common."

"Do you _want _to be saved?"

It was an unexpected question, coming from him. But then, this whole situation was surreal, being asked deep questions by _Zaeed fucking Massani_ while sprawled naked on top of him after the most explosive sexual experience of her life.

"Not really," she finally said. "But I guess I'd like for it all to mean something in the end… all the pain, the fighting. The people I've lost, even the ones I've killed."

"Gets goddamn complex when you don't do it for the money." Zaeed said, tapping off his cigar in the ashtray on the floor.

She folded her arms over his chest and laid her head on them. "I don't do anything just for money anymore. Not after… some things in my past. It has to mean more."

Zaeed laughed. "What's this? The high-and-mighty savior of the galaxy has a shady past? What could _you_ have possibly done?"

She sat back, straddling his hips, and rubbed her face. "You don't want to know. A lot more than you probably imagine. Let's just say that I ran with a bad crowd and eventually some of them came to regret it. So did I." Her hands slid over his hard stomach, tracing old scars before meeting his eyes. "I'm not sure why I'm telling you this." She cocked her head at him, shaking it slightly.

"Trust is what sets mercs like me apart from animals like those goddamn Batarians. No matter what happened on Zorya, so long as you're on the up-and-up then we're solid. No worries." He reached up and ran his rough hand down her body, causing her to shiver. "I won't tell anyone your dirty secret."

"Glad to hear it. I can't stand insincere people. For this kind of job especially, we need only the right kind."

"You need the right people at the right time no matter what you do, Shepard. I'd get arrested for doing what I did to you an hour ago to a whore, and I get the feeling that you don't do casual well. If we'd met on the Citadel, it wouldn't have been the right time, or the right people. And _you_ wouldn't have one helluva story to tell all your lady friends. Which I encourage you to do at the earliest opportunity."

She chuckled. "It's true that I always have a motive, no matter what I'm doing. Doesn't lend well to casual sex. That's probably why actual relationships are something I've rarely experienced."

Zaeed leaned over and put out his cigar, the smoke coiling after him as he turned back to her. "Enough of your natter, dizzy bitch. You ready to go again?" He patted her thigh, rising onto one elbow.

Her face blossomed into the biggest smile she'd worn in a long time. "You know what? I think I am, you old bastard."

"Atta girl. Bottoms up!" Shepard squealed as he flipped them over and moved on top of her.

* * *

_There was a bit more to this but it doesn't make sense in a one-shot so I cut it. If any more of these worm their way into my story and don't end up fitting in the big picture, I'll post them for you.** Please review and share!**_


End file.
